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January 3rd, 2007Comedy, On Writing, Pilots
I caught a bit of the premiere of “Knights of Prosperity” tonight. And I saw an earlier cut of the whole thing months ago in the writers’ room at Andy Barker, too. Writing staffs will do that sometimes, checking out pilots together, rooting for quality. I liked Knights a lot. I had also read it when it was pilot script called “Let’s Rob Mick Jagger”. Before that, it was a pilot script called “Let’s Rob Jeff Goldblum”. And at some time in there, it was just called “Let’s Rob…” Discuss which is the best premise. Now discuss which is the best title. (Hint: It’s not ‘Knights of Prosperity’)
Anyway, I think this show might be a good model for those of you writing spec comedy pilots. It’s single-camera, which feels less moribund than multi-camera, and it has a big flashy daring premise that’s instantly memorable. I have no idea if the show itself is going to be consistently good, but the pilot is perfectly designed to draw attention to itself, which is what you are going to need. Take a look, if you get a chance.
By the way, employing built-in casting — as this script did — allows you to demonstrate you can write to a recognizable voice. I hesitate to recommend this in general, for fear of causing an avalanche of spec pilots all using the same gimmick: “My Aunt is Meryl Streep!” “I Reanimated the Three Stooges!” “Let’s Ask Rip Torn!” But I gotta say, it’s a pretty great idea.
Lunch: falafel and various highly-flavored salads